Road-drag.



1'. M. BRYSON 611. 0. D-1CK1NSON. ROAD DRAG.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 4,1917.

Patented Oct. 22, 1918.

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J. Nl. BRYSON I. 0. DICKINSON.

ROAD DRAG.

APPLvCATloN FILED. 0504.191?.

Patented Oct. 22, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. y

lI/n [enfers 0 2 5W By Am's JOHN MARTIN BRYSON ANDUAMES ROAD-DRAG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

O. DICKINSON, OF OSKALOOSA, IOWA.

Application led December 4, 1917. Serial No. 205,468.

To all whom t mayconcera:

Be it known that we, JOHN vMARTIN BRY- soN and JAMES O.V DicnrnsoN, citizens of the United States, and residents of )Oskaloosa, inthe county of Mahaska and State of lowa,`have invented a certain new and useful Road-Drag, of Awhich the following is a specication. Kp

,The object of our invention istoprovide a road drag of simple, durable and ineX- pensive construction.

ln the use of road drags, it hasV been found that a weighted drag when pulled along the road will smooth olf very nicely the surface of a dirt road where there are irregularities caused by wheeled trucks or foot prints of horses. ln such cases the action of a weighted flank or blade; which is merely dragged over the road and is not mounted upon wheels is very efficient.` It has also been found, however, that when there is La depression of considerable size in the road, the nose of the drag will tend to dive into the depression, so that the result of the drag over a depression of considerable size in the road is to deepen this depression in many cases. This result is caused by the fact that the drag will slide down into the depression as it is being pulled across and the nose of the drag will tend to scrape olf the soil on the ascending side of the depression as it continues its further progress. The soil thus scraped off instead of being left in the depression is carried along the succeeding surface of the road and gradually deposited thereon. lt has also been found that considerable difliculty is experienced in turning a road drag of the type that is not wheel' mounted around when the desired length of road has been dragged. In view of these well known features of the use of road drags it is the object of our invention to provide an improved road drag wherein the drag or scraper moves over the surface of the road and is heldv against such surface by its own weight under ordinary conditions but which may be lflung up onto wheels when it is expedient to remove the drag from contact with the ground.

A further object of our invention is to provide a comparatively long scraping blade, which may be pulled over the ground at an acute angle to the longitudinal center of the road, so that the effect upon the road surface may be similar to that secured by the use of an ordinary drag while the advantage is secured inherent in the use of a cutting blade.

A. further 4object of our invention is' to provide at the rear end of such inclined scraper blade an auxiliary transversely disposed blade .adapted Vto level off and pulverize whatever' dirt may be picked up and carried along to the rear end of the inclined blade.

A further object of our invention is to provide a long bladeadapted to be dragged over the road surface in position inclined at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of a road and having at the rear end of said blade a second transversely disposed pulverizing and leveling blade both of which may be operatively connected with.

an ordinary wagon or with the body of a power driven truck in such manner that the side drag on the wagon or truck body caused by the inclination of the main scraper blade will be substantially neutralized.

A further object of our invention is to provide a draft rigging whereby a drag of the class described maybe secured to the ordinary Wagon or truck body with a minimum of additional parts and in such 1nannerl that these additional parts and the drag may be readily connected thereto or disconnected therefrom.

A further object of our invention is to provide a pair of' arms, which may each have one end pivotally and detachably secured to the wagon or truck body and which may each have their other ends pivotally mounted on the main cutting blade whereby the main cutting blade may be held in position spaced A from the wagon or truck body-and inclined at an acute .angle relative to the 4line of movement of said wagon or truck body. llt is also our object to secure one lever to the wagon body having a chain extended between said lever and the adjacent portion of the cutting blade, so that the forward end of the cutting blade may be raised or lowered relative to the ground byl manipulation of said lever. rlhe transversely disposed blade heretofore mentioned has caster wheels disposed rearwardly thereof and a second lever is pivoted above said transversely disposed blade and fulcrumed vabove said caster wheels and also operatively connected with eachend of the main vcutting blade whereby manipulation of the last described lever controls the vertical position of both the trans- .verse blade and the rear end of the main Patented oet. 22, isis. i

Bolted to the rear side of the blade 18 near blade from which it will be seen that either the forward or the rearward end of the main blade may be lifted relative to the ground whereby the surface of `the road which is being worked upon may be inclined by the action of the main blade toward in a line perpendicular tol the longitudinal axis of the main scraper blade.

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical, sectional view taken on the line 4-4of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical, sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2; y

Referring to the accompanying drawing we have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally the body vof a wagon or truck, which is mounted on wheels 11. Pivotally and detachably secured to the body 10 at one side thereof just forward of a wheel 11 is an arm 12. The arm 12 may be secured to the bed 10 as is shown in Fig. 5 where an angular bracket 13 is bolted to the bed 10 at 14 and has a lateral extension 15 spaced from the bed 10 and perforated to receive a bolt 16, which also is loosely received in an opening in the end of the arm 12.

A second arm17 is pivotally and detachably secured to the rear of the wagon or truck preferably'to the rear axle thereof at a point adjacent to the side opposite that at which the arm 12 is secured. The arms 12 and 17 are designed to carry the main inclined scraper blade which is designated generally by the numeral 18. The connections of both arms to the blade 18 are similar so that onlythe connection of the arm 12 is herewith illustrated and shown in Fig. 4.

The blade 18 consists of one comparatively wide elongated strip to which is removably secured at the lower edge a cutting knife 19. A comparatively large angle iron extends throughout the length of the blade 18 and has a flange 2O bolted to the rear side of the bla-de 18 while the other flange 21 extends rearwardly and horizontally therefrom.

the forward end thereof is an upwardly extending blade 22, which has its upper edge rolled and otherwise suitably shaped to form one member of a hinge 23. The other member of the hinge 23 is a'blade 24, which ex-I tends rearwardly therefrom and carries the arm 12,' the latter being pivotally secured to said blade near the forward end thereof by bolt 25.

The flange 21 is provided at either side of the blade 22 with a plurality of openings 2G, which are designed to receive bolts 27V passed through one end of arms 28. The other ends of the arms 28 are secured to the rear end of the blade 24 by bolt 29. From the foregoing it will be seen that by moving the bolts 27 to the various openings 26 in the liange 21 Vthe distance of the bolts 29 from theV flange 21'may be varied, which results in varying lthe angle of the blade k24 relative to the vblade18. The blade 24 may be said to subwhich is secured to a vertical support 31. lThe member 31 is the cross portion of a U- shaped or channel shaped member comprising a cross portion 31, which is vertical and the two horizontal members 32 and 33. Secured to the member 32 are apair of rear- Vwardly extending arms 34, which are connected at either end by a transverse angle iron 35. A plate 36v is secured to each of the arms 34 and to the angle iron 35, and carries the shank of a caster wheel 37.A Between the arms 34 a plate-39 is extended between themember35 and the member 32.`

The following mea-ns are used for connecting the transverse blade with the main inclined blade and the wagon body: A chain 40 is secured to the wagon or truck preferably to the rear `axle adjacent to the place where the arm 17 is secured and extends rearwardly therefrom. The chain 40 is then divided. and chains 41 and 42 extend to either end of the member 31 where they are secured by means of eyes A rigid hook member 4.4 is pivoted to the rear end of the ange 21 of the Vblade 1,8 and is adapted to be hooked through one of theeyes 43. The hook 44 is of such length'that the rear end of the blade 18 will be disposed substantially at the center of the blade 30 when the rear end of the blade 18 is close to the blade 30, which is its normal position.

`From the foregoing description of the parts it will be seen that we have provided 1 means for detach-ably securing our inclined blade and leveling transverse blade te the rear end of the wagon or truck body in such position that forward movement of the wagon will pull the two cutting blades over the ground or road surface with little or no tendency toward a. side draft. This results largely from the fact that-the connection of the arm 17 with the blade 18 is approximately at the center of the latter, so that the pull of the transverse ,blade 30 neu tralizes substantially any side ypull that might result from theA extension of the blade 18 to one side of the body 10.

A lever 45 is pivoted by bolt 46 to the plate 39 above the member 32 and extends rearwardly and forwardly from said pivot point. The rearward extension is designed to slide over the plate 39 so as to permit such loose swinging of the blade 30 as may take place during the ordinary scraping movements or when the device is being turned. The portion of the lever 45 which extends forwardly is connected by a chain 47 with the rear end of the blade 18 and then extends forwardly to position adjacent to the rear end of the wagon or truck bed 10.

Means such as a chain 48 and a pin 49 should be used to hold theforward end of the lever 45 in vertically adjusted positions. Fromthe foregoing it will be seen that when the lever 45 is in the position shown in Fig. 2 the blade 30 will contact with the ground and the extension 33 will be but slightly above the surface of the ground. The chain 47 is also of such length that the rear end of the blade 18 will rest upon the ground.

-When, however, the lever 45 is raised and held in raised position by means of the chain 48 and pin 49 the blade 30 and the rear end of the blade 18 will be lifted from the ground and held in lifted position by means respectively of the bolt 46 and the chain 47. This results from the fact that the rear end of the lever 45 is supported by the caster wheels 37 and the forward end is supported by the wagon box 10, so that the intermediate portion carrying the bolt 46 and the chain 47 is raised vertically to thereby lift the above mentioned parts of the blades.

A second lever 50 is pivoted at 51 to the bed 10 and the chain 52 is extended from the rear end of the lever 50 to the blade 18 where it is secured in one of a plurality of openings 53, which' are disposed between the two blades 22. Means, not here shown, are provided for holding the lever 50 in certain adjusted positions, so that when the forward end of the lever 50 is lowered from its position shown in Fig.v 2 the rear end will be raised to thereby pull on the chain 52, which will raise the forward end of the blade 18 clear of the ground.

From the construction of the partsy just described it will be seen that manipulation of the levers 50 and 45 will respectively raise either the forward end of the rear end or the blade 18 from Contact with tlhe ground or both ends may be raised from contact with the ground when desired. The blade 30 is also raised at the same time, At

the forward end of the blade 18 a ,plow 51 may be detachably mounted for a purpose hereinafter tlo be made clear. The forward edge, however, of the blade 18 when the proved road drag devices such as are shown in Fig. 5 are suitably secured to the body of atruck or wagon in order that the arms 12 and `17 may be detachably secured thereto and means are providedxfor pivoting the lever 50 to the body and means are provided for securing the chains 48 and 40 to the proper places vonthe body or rear axle as the case may be. 1

When it is desired to attach our improved drag to the truck or wagonA the wagonfis then moved to proper position where the arms 17 and 12 may be secured thereto and the chains 40, 48 and 52 secured in place. Y From the foregoin it will be seen that the entire drag may e .secured to a truck or wagon body in a very few minutes when it is desired to use the drag. vIf the road, which is to be worked upon, is some dis tance from thejplace at which the drag is stored the respective levers 45 and 50 may .be manipulated to raise vthe blade 30 and the blade 18 clear from the ground, which makes it possible to transport the entire dragV upon wheelsV to the place where it is desired tfo use it. When the road to be surfaced is reached, levers 45 and 50 are moved to position where the entire weight' of the blades 18 and 30 willvrest upon the ground and the opera-tor may then drive along the road and under ordinary circumstances it has beenfound that no tension or adjustment is necessary inthe use of the drag unless the road is inV bottom edge of the blade to the hori-y zontal may be adjusted to incline in either direction by raising either lever 45 or the lever 50'.

lVhen it is designed to ditch the side of the road the lever 45 may be raised sutliciently to raise the rear end of the ,blade 18 off the groundrand the plow 54 secured to the forward end of the blade 18, so that the inclined scraping blade having a point at its forward end is formed, so that a very clean cut ditch may be made-and the earth removed from the ditch will be scraped up to the center of the road.

TVe believe that'our road drag is an improvement on others now known in that it is more efcient, that it will do vthe work readily and rapidly shave the road from the ditch to the center cutting olf all ridges Vand lumps and depositing the loose dirt in low places, thus giving to the road a perfect lgrade from ditch to center. The transverse bladev at the rear of the diagonally arranged blade may be manipulated by its -controlling lever to enable the operator to shave and smooth ofi' the center of the road and deposit all the loose dirt in wheel tracks or depressions, which may eXist in the road, particularly if the road vis soft andI muddy. The use of this type of grader with a sharp blade makes it possible to keep weeds and grass shaved from the surface of the road from the ditch to the center thus maintaining a' clean smooth surface and makes it easy to vlill all the small ditches running crosswise, which might result from hard dashing rains or Aother causes.V The drag may be used on one 4side of the road while leaving the other side freefor trailic. The long blade may be eX- tended to or even slightly over the ditch and yet the source of power, which draws the machine, may 'travel in the road on solid ground. The long 'blade cuts olf the ridge, which tends to be formed between the ditch and the track atV the center of the road thereby preventing any wash along the upper edge of such ridge and depositing the dirt in the low places in the road and producing a perfect grade from ditch to center, which allows all water to flow freely-'to the ditch and reduces the washing out along the road of any kind to a minimum.

Where the crown of the road may be too high or the grade from the crown to the ditch too steep, the crown may be reduced by drawing our drag along the center of the road and throwing the ridge in the center to either side. On account of the angle of inclination of the long blade with relation to the path of travel of the machine, we are `able to secure more of shearing or shaving effect with less dragging of the dirt than occurs with the use of other machines thereby reducing the amount of power necessary to pull our drag. The dirt will quickly slide along the blade, so that the machine can be drawn at a'lgreater speed than ordinary machines without interfering with the perfect smoothing and grading of the road.

Attention is alsocalled to the ease and quickness with which the operator can make his adjustment for cutting off the high places and fill in the low spots in the road.

VOn account of the use of the sharp blade harder surface road than' canV be dragged with the ordinary drag now in use.

vSome Vchanges vmay be made lin the construction andy arrangement of the various parts of our improved road vdrag without departing from the vessential features and purposes of our invention and it. is our iii-- tention to cover by our claims anyrmodified forms of structure or mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within'their scope. 4

We claim as our invention:

l. In a drag, a frame mounted on wheels, a diagonally arranged blade, means for -con necting said blade with said frame for dragging said blade behind the frame and for permitting the bladeto be tilted for varying its angle of inclination with the surface of the ground, and for permitting it to be raised and lowered, a second frame, a substantially transversely arranged blade at the forward end of the second frame, a supporting runner device at the rear part of said second frame, a lever secured to said second frame'for permitting -said second frame to swing in a horizontal plane, and extending forwardly from said frame and arranged so -that when the forward end of said lever is raised said second frame will be tilted for causing saidrunner to travel on the ground and for lifting the blade on said second frame off the ground, and a fieXible member connecting' said lever with one end of said first blade, whereby when said second described blade is raised olf the ground one end of the firstl described blade will be raised.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a frame mounted on wheels,

Awith a diagonally arranged blade, means for operatively -hinging said blade 4to said frame for permitting the blade to be raised and lowered, a second frame, a blade at the forward portion thereof, a supporting runner device at the rearward portion thereof, means for tilting said second frame for raising said second blade o the ground, and a flexible means for connecting said tilting means with 'one end of said first blade whereby when the second blade is raised, one end of the first blade will be raised.

` 3. In a drag, a blade', angle iron brackets on the back thereof, hinged devices each having one end secured to said blade, arms pivoted to the other portions of said hinged devices for permitting said arms to swing laterally with relation to the hinged devices,

- and braces pivoted to said last named ineinbers of said hinged devices and adjustably llO blade disposed adjacent to the rear end thereof with its longitudinal axis inclined at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said frame, means whereby the blade may be held in position spaced from the frame and at a predetermined angle relative to the ground, a second cutting blade disposed transversely relative to the longitudinal4V axis of said frame at the rear end of the first described blade, a supporting frame extended rearwardly from said last described blade, supportingwheels disposed beneath the rear end of said supporting member,

scribed blade and the rearv end of the rst described blade to said lever, and means for vertically adjusting the forward end of said lever.

DesMoines, Iowa, November 16, 1917. JOHN MARTIN BRYSON. JAMES O. DICKINSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

